Semi-weekly south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1883-1889, 1887-05-06

llOnUOn 10 eat MS ulIl1eiS.
Aud so the time went by, till at last h
rtGched his 25th birthday, at which date thi
strange, and in some ways awful, history
really begins.
CHAPTER III.
THE sHERD OF AMENARTAs
On the day preceding Leo's twenty-fftl
birthday We both proceeded to London, anC
extracted the mysterious chest from the banl
where had deposited it twenty years before
1t was, remember, brought up by the SAINT
clerk who had taken 1t down. He perfectly
remembered having hidden 1t away Had he
not done so, he said, no should have had diff
nculty in finding it, 1t was so covered up witt
cobwebs
In the evening we returned with our pre-
cious burden to Cambridge, and think that
we might both of us have given away all the
sleep we got that night aud not have beer
much the poorer At day break Leo arrived
In my room in adressing gown, and suggested
that we should at once proceed TO business
/ secuted the idea as showing an unworthy
curiosity. The chest had waited twenty
years, said; it could very well continue ia
wait until after breakfast. Accordingly at
O-nn unusually sharp Owe brealfasted;
and SO occupied was with my own thoughts
that regret to state that put a piece OF
bacon into Leo's tea in mistake for lump Of
sugar Job, too, to whom the contagion of
excitement had Of course spread, managed 10
break the handle on my Sevres china tea
cup, the identical one, 1 believe. that Marat
had be.n drinking from Just before he was
stabbed I'm his bath 81 e.
At last, however, breakfast was cleared
away, aud job at my request, fetched the
chest, and placed it upon the table in some
what gingerly fashion, as though he mis-
trusted it. Then he prepared to leave tho
room.
aStop n moment, job said; off Leo has
no objection should prefer to have an indie
pendent witness to this business. who can be
relied upon to hold his tongue unless he is
asked TO speak"
"Certainly, Unclo Horace" answered Leo,
for had brought him up to call me uncle,
though he varied the appellation somewhat
by calling me aold fellow" Of
even amy avunculnr relative" N. !. Ri
job touched his head, not having on hat.
HLoch the door, job" / said, @and bring me
my dispatch box" II ar
He obeyed, and from the box took tho
keys that poor Vincey, Leo's father, had
given me ON the night Of his death. There
were three of them; the largest compare
lively modern key, the second an exceedingly
ancient one and the third entirely unlike any
thing Of the sort that had ever seen before,
being fashioned apparently from strip of
solid silver, with n bar placed across to serve
as handle, and some hicks cut in the edge of
the bar. 1t was more like n model of some
antediluvian railway key than anything else
snow are you both readyi" said, as peo-
pie do when they are going to fire mine
There was no answer, so took the big key,
rubbed some salad oil into the wards, and
after one or two bad shots, for my hands
wero shaking, managed to fit it and shoot the
lock. Leo bent over and caught the massive
lid in both his hands, and, with an effort, for
the hinges had rusted, leaned it back Its re-
moval revealed another case covered with
dust. This we extracted from the iron chest
without any difficulty, and removed the &C
cumulated filth of years from it with Q
clothes brush
1t was, or appeared to be, of ebony, OIL
bOIlt rum NlOot kIulltu DldCh NOOus anu wa,
bound in every direction with fat bands Of
iron. Its antiquity must have been extreme
for the dense, heavy wood was actually il
parts commencing to crumble away from
age. -
snow for IT," said, inserting the second
key.
Job and Leo bent forward in breathles
silence. The key turned and flung back the
lid and uttered an exclamation, as did the
Others, and no wonder, for inside the ebony
case was magnificent silver casket, about
twelve inches square by eight high. 1t ap
peared TO be of Egyptian workmanship, fol
the four legs were formed of sphinxes, ant
the dome shaped cover was also surmountet
by sphinx. The casllet was, Of course, mucl
furnished and dimmed with age, but other
wise in almost perfect condition.
drew it out and set it ON tho table, an(
then, in the midst OF the most perfect silence
] inserted the strange looking silver key AMI
pressed this way and that, until at last th
lock yielded and the casket stood open befor
us. 1t was filled TO the brim with some brow
shredded material, moro like vegetable flbe
than paper, the nature OF which hive neve
been able to discover This ] carefully re
moved TO the depth of some three inches
when l came to letter inclosed in an or
binary modern looking envelope, and ad
dressed in the handwriting of my dead frient
Vincey:
ITO my son Leo, should he liue to open thi
cdskst"
handed the letter to Leo, who glanced a
the envelope and then put it down upon tn
table, making motion to me to 60 on empty
ing the casket.
The next thing that came to was parct
ment carefully rolled up, I uurolled II, an
seeing that 1t was also in Vincey's hand
writing, and headed, TRANSLATION of til
, Uncial Greek Writing on tho Potsherd, y pu
1t down by the letter. Then followed anothe
ancient roll of parchment, that had becom
yellow and crinkled with the passage of years
This also unrolled. Il was likewise a tran,
latlon OF the same Greek original, but Il
black letter Latin this time, and appeared b
me from the style and character 10 date iron
the end OF the Fifteenth or perhaps the middl
OF the Sixteenth century. Immediately bC
meath this roll was something hard an
heavy, wrapped up in yellow linen, and J,
posing upon another layer OF the fibrou
material. Slowly and carefully we unrolle
tho linen, exposing TO view very large bu
undoubtedly ancient potsherd Of dirty yel
low colorl This potsherd had in my judg
ment once been part Of an ordinary amphor
of medium size. For tho rest, it measures
eleven inches In length by ten in width, wa
about quarter Of an inch thick, and dersel,
covered on tho convex side, that lay towarl
tho bottom of tho box, with writing in Oh
later Uncial Greek character, faded here AM
there, but for the most part perfectly legible
the inscription having evidently been execute,
with the greatest care, and by means of
reed pen, such as tho ancients often used.
must not forget 10 mention that in some re
mote ago this wonderful fragment had beer
broken In two, and rejoined by means o
cement and eight long rivets Also Their
were numerous Inscriptions on tho inner side
but these were Of the most erratic character
and had clearly been made by different hand
and In many different ages, and Of them
shall have 10 speak presently.
us there anything morel' asked Leo, In I
kind Of excited whisper. ....-----